The Link Between Marketing and Market Research

Market research is about discovering what people want and need, uncovering their beliefs and determining how they will act in certain situations. Therefore, market research is a useful tool for companies to build a solid marketing strategy based on reliable data rather than guesswork. The goal of market research is to provide the facts which will help companies in developing their marketing strategy. Market research starts by ‘translating’ the gaps in knowledge, into a research problem. For example, if the marketing dilemma is whether or not to launch a new product, the research problem would be to assess whether the market would be interested in purchasing the new product. Furthermore, market research can determine the demographic characteristics – such as gender, age and socioeconomic classification - of the potential customers. This is vital knowledge, which would enable the company to target their particular audience by means of advertising. Market research can help in designing more powerful marketing strategies as it can determine the motivation behind customer or client decisions, therefore allowing companies to pin point particular market trends. Motivation is central in marketing as it is a more stable determining factor than behaviour and a better predictor of future behaviour than past behaviour. Market research in marketing can be either qualitative or quantitative depending on the market strategy being pursued. The research methodology is determined by the objectives of such a strategy.

For more information on how your company or organisation can use market research as part of their marketing strategy, kindly contact MISCO International on +356 2122 0303.